Great place for camping and fishing, the lodge has great food if you don't feel like cooking

Montauk State Park is at the headwaters of the Current River, and is a State Park the northern end of the National Scenic River. It is just South of Salem, MO. The park has a fish hatchery and is noted for trout fishing! The campground is very large, with 3 or 4 loops. The sites are mostly level but close together. They have water and electric. With this many people it can get noisy. There are clean showers/bathrooms and a dump station. There is a lodge with rooms and a restaurant with limited menu, and cabins. WiFi is available at the lodge, but cell service is spotty in the park. This is a trout fishing park. Almost everything is focused on fishing! You can get fishing equipment, tackle, fishing license and trout tags in the store.

My family has been going every year for over 40 years. An amazing place full of memories, right next to Current River and the Baptist Camp launch site.

I have been camping at Montauk since the mid 1960's. We spent many family vacations camping and trout fishing the head waters of the Current River in Montauk. The staff are all really friendly and the lodge has good food with a nice buffet on the weekends. It's a busy park so it's best to make reservations unless you are arriving during the week but that can still be an issue some weeks. During the fall you can get some good colors.

Very quiet and clean. Bathroom/ shower houses are clean and well stocked. Campground host take job very serious, 1 time had noisy Neighbors, host had them removed immediately after they refused to quiet down. Lits of hiking and biking areas, multiple playgrounds with good equipment for the kids. Largest fishing area i have personally been to in a state park. Lodge has good food at good prices. Been going to montauk all my life never had a bad experience.

We have been camping at Montauk since the mid 1960's. The campground isn't the best place since it floods so the sites can take a beating. The staff are friendly. Bring plenty of garden hose some sites have a 150' reach to a faucet. Summertime is always busy so reservations are a good idea. The lodge has good home cooked meals and they have a ice cream bar. You can get some camping supplies at the store and they have a full line of fishing supplies since Montauk is a put-n-take trout river.

The water is beautiful and the fishing is great. Getting up early to watch the mist on the water is a must. Tranquil and fun!

Pros: Great trout fishing opportunities. State park has basic necessities (groceries, bait & tackle, fishing licenses, gift shop, firewood, etc.)

Cons: Nearest gas station is about 20 miles away. No phone service around Current River drop offs or pick locations if you float the river.

This is where my love of camping started. I spent many summers as a child camping at Montauk State Park with my grandparents. After those early years of riding my bike as a child around the campground loops, I now take my child there every year with the hope that he appreciates it as much as I do.

Montauk State Park is one of the Missouri Conservations four trout parks, and is located at the headwaters of the beautiful Current River. The Current along with the Jack’s Fork River make up the Ozark National Scenic Riverways National Park. Since it is one of Missouri’s trout parks you will find a majority of campers are there to fish. You can purchase a trout tag at the lodge for $3.00, and it will allow you to keep 4 trout per day with a possession limit of 8. The conservation will stock the Current on a nightly basis, based on number of tags sold the day before. The stretch of river from spring to the falls are some of my favorite fishing anywhere. I have a group of guys that get together every spring and fall for a trout fishing trip.

As the Current River winds its way through the valley, it creates one of the campground boundaries. This allows you to be near the river at all times, or even next to it, if you grab one of the spots on its banks. The campground is broken down into 4 separate loops, with loop 1 being the only basic section, all the others have electricity. I have spent more time recently camping in the basic section with the guys. We have used sites 115 for the space and 119 for the seclusion. Our family did camp on Mother’s Day on site 418, in loop 4. I would not recommend this site because you only have a small space between you and your neighbors.

There are two bathroom/shower houses with laundry facilities located in the campground, along with three campground host. You are able to purchase firewood and ice in the campground as well. Sites do go quickly so you will need to book months in advance.

The lodge has a full restaurant, as well as a diner style counter. My son love’s to go and sit at the counter to get ice cream. You will find menu item such as burgers, sandwiches, and salads, as well as a buffet on certain days. You can even order a sack lunch to take out to the river bank. The lodge also has a store stocked with camp essentials, souvenir items, and fishing supplies. If you do not have your own fishing poles, they have some for rent. You will also find the lunker board located here, so if you are lucky enough to catch a three pound trout bring it to have it weighed for your lunker patch.

If you decide not to fish, there are things to do such as take a tour of the mill when the naturalist does one of their demonstrations, hike the quarter mile trial to the springs (one of my son’s favorites, he likes to search for the water bubbling out of the ground), hike the longer 1.5 mile pine ridge trail, feed the fish at the hatchery, or take in one of the nature programs at the amphitheater. Also if you head out of the park on YY you will find Tan Vat Access located right outside the park on the Current. This is a great place to take young ones for a dip in its cool waters. Also you can take a gravel road out of the park to a funky little place called Bo’s Hollow. A family has built a small town in a field, where you can buy a bbq sandwich lunch, and take a model A ride to Ashley creek for swimming and a picnic.

I hope you get a chance to check out Montauk State Park. It is one of our family favorite destinations.

Has the same feel as Bennett Springs. I would say it is worth the trip if you want to do some trout fishing and spend some quality time with your family. The water is chilly, but even going and not fishing is great as it is a beautiful area.